


Sailing to Nowhere

by just_the_worst



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Human AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-18 12:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5927587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_the_worst/pseuds/just_the_worst
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peridot, a recent university graduate, is stuck in a rut. Her life, for lack of a better phrase, is supremely boring. Will she find a way to escape the tediousness of her existence? Or will her life continue to be a meandering and pointless experience?</p>
<p>Only time will tell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Gee, I wonder why people don’t watch T.V. shows about receptionists. It’s clearly a never-ending ride of thrills,_ thought Peridot as she concluded forty-three straight minutes of laminating.

It was Friday night at Pinky Dewey Recreation Centre.

There were a few kids who had showed up for open computers, but aside from them and the few staff who were on tonight, the facility was quiet.

Peridot groaned. There were still another three hours until her shift ended.

While Peridot was glad that Amethyst was the one on open computers tonight, she was annoyed that she also had to deal with Lapis, the ornery Lifeguard 1.

Lapis seemed to permanently be in a bad mood. The good news was that adherence to pool rules had risen by about one hundred percent since she had started working there. Children who had previously refused to listen required only a withering glare from the resident head lifeguard to be “scared straight”, so to speak. One got the impression that that she was the sort who would pull you under the water and hold you there until you begged for mercy.

Peridot shuddered to think of it.

_Looks like open computers is letting out_.

About fifteen kids slowly filtered out of the computer room.

Amethyst soon followed, closing the door behind them.

“Anyone give you trouble today?”, Peridot asked Amethyst as she walked towards the front desk.

A couple weeks prior some asshole children had decided it would be hilarious to hide in the storage room right before the end of program.

Peridot had e-mailed Rose Quartz, their direct superior, on Amethyst’s behalf.

“Naw. Some teenaged boys played some really inappropriate music, but I got them to tone it down a bit. Normally I wouldn’t care, but there was a little kid with his mom there”.

Peridot nodded.

“Yeah, that’s not okay. Look where we are though, you’re not likely to get them to stop”

Peridot was referring to the neighbourhood they were in; it was notoriously bad, so much so that the adjoining school was considered the worst in the city.

“How about you? I’m sure you’ve had a deeply thrilling time out here”

“I spent half an hour colour-coding lesson plans. The excitement never ends”, Peridot replied dryly.

“Well, it’s time for me to blow this joint. Smell you later, Peri”

Unable to think of a suitably snappy response Peridot merely replied:

“I hope your weekend is enjoyable”.

“Yep, you too!”, Amethyst replied, as she exited the facility.

_Only two hours until the end of my shift…_

The computer in front of her was practically taunting her. She knew Rose monitored their internet use. Peridot opened Solitaire. It was better than nothing.

Lapis exited the pool after Peridot had spent about half an hour clicking at the game absently. Her hair looked wet.

_Maybe she had to go in after someone?_

“What are you looking at?” Lapis snarled, her dark eyes boring into Peridot

“Well, you are the most visually interesting thing currently in this facility”, replied Peridot as she attempted to subtly hide behind her computer monitor.

“Eh. I guess you’re right. Slow night?”

“Mmmmhmmmm”

While Peridot wasn’t quite sure what had caused Lapis’ apparent shift in demeanor, she wasn’t about to question it.

“Wish my night had been slower. Some idiot wasn’t watching where he was going. He slipped and scrapped his knee pretty badly. Do you have any idea how long those stupid ‘slips, trips and falls’ forms are?”

Peridot grimaced sympathetically. The City had recently revised said forms. They were now two-pages of legal-sized paper. Double sided.

“And THEN, Jasper decided it would be hilarious to dump a bucket of water on my head while we were cleaning up after water polo”

Jasper was one of the fitness instructors. Peridot was too intimidated to really talk to her, but she knew that she taught water polo and spin classes, amongst other things.

“Yikes. Does she often do stuff like that?”

Lapis didn’t reply, a stormy expression overtaking her face.

“Well, have a good weekend!” Peridot said with exaggerated cheeriness, in an attempt to defuse the unexpected tension.

“Yeah, you too…”

And with that, Lapis had put on her coat and left the recreation centre.

Peridot was officially the only person left.

_One hour remaining…_

Peridot had thought that the last hour would go quickly. Unfortunately, not only does a watched clock seldom tick, but an idle mind tends to wander.

_Not really sure why I’m in such a rush to go home anyway. It’s not like I’ve got anything planned_.

It was true that Peridot’s options for after-work were almost as thrilling as her job. She’d return to her bachelor apartment, play videogames or browse the internet for a couple of hours, then she’d sleep and the process would begin anew.

  1. Wake up
  2. Eat breakfast
  3. Take bus to work
  4. Work
  5. Go home
  6. Eat
  7. Kill time



Peridot could sum up her entire life in that eight-step process.

It was tiresome, but how was she supposed to break out of it? Most of the time Peridot felt more like a drone than a person.

_Aren’t I supposed to already have friends? Or god forbid, a girlfriend?_

She was 22. Her complete lack of personal relationships, platonic or otherwise increasingly felt to Peridot like a personal failure.

But what was she to do? Peridot simply couldn’t envision herself meeting people at a bar, or wherever it was that ‘young people’ were supposed to mingle.

Was she just supposed to talk to people? But who did that, really?

_And let’s face it, you’re not exactly hot stuff_.

She knew she was supposed to have met people during her university years, but apathy and awkwardness had proved to be insurmountable obstacles for Peridot’s social life.

The few people Peridot actually **did** know had since moved on with their lives. They didn’t seem particularly interested in keeping touch.

_You’re deluding yourself. It’s not like they ever even liked you anyway_.

The only people Peridot regularly interacted with were her co-workers.

She had to admit that she kind of liked them:

They had a hyper-competent dance instructor named Pearl, an overly cheery after-school staff named Steven and a bizarrely stoic person named Garnet who worked with the pre-schoolers.

There was Pearl, the hyper-competent dance instructor, Steven, the overly cheery after-school staff and Garnet, the oddly stoic person behind their preschool programs. Even Jasper and Lapis had their charms, much as Peridot loathed to admit it.

Then of course, there was Amethyst. Peridot couldn’t help admiring her easy-going attitude. Peridot was sure she’d go nuts if she had to spend even a fraction of the amount of time Amethyst did supervising those kids. Peridot also thought that she was smart, funny, pretty and in general, pretty awesome.

_There’s a small chance I may have a crush on her…_

_Okay, even if I did **hypothetically** like one of them, I can’t just ask a random girl on a date! What would I say? What would she say?_

Any possible musings on this, or related subjects typically reduced Peridot to a ball of anxiety.

_Huh, looks like it’s time for me to lock up_.

At last, Peridot was done for the night.

Her ride home passed without incident. A few giggling drunk girls had piled on the bus at one point, but it was easy enough to ignore them.

Peridot had “quick dinners” down to an art form, and within fifteen minutes of stepping in the door she had a plateful of food in front of her computer monitor.

Absently, she checked her e-mail.

_Attention all recreation staff!_

_A quick reminder that our Christmas party is coming up in two weeks!_

_I look forward to spending a festive evening with you all!_ _J_

_-Rose Quartz_

Peridot groaned audibly.

While attendance was not strictly mandatory, it was **strongly** encouraged.

Peridot checked the location, it was The Snooty Fox, a pub that was located fairly close to Pinky Dewey.

_Oh no, don’t tell me…_

Peridot was dismayed to find that the party was planned on a Tuesday night, otherwise known as karaoke night at The Snooty Fox.

_Maybe I could just fake sick or something. Amethyst is going to be there though…_

Peridot knew she was doomed. There was no way she was going to miss out on a relatively informal chance to hang out with Amethyst. Even if it meant karaoke.


	2. Chapter 2

Peridot was not emotionally prepared for this.

For some reason it seemed like ALL the young patrons were at each other’s throats.

Peridot wanted nothing to do with it, but the staff were so overwhelmed that she’d had no choice but to help.

From what she could tell there were at least three conflicts occurring at the same time:

  1. A 12-year old boy had slapped a 6 year-old girl in the face, hard enough to leave a bruise.
  2. A boy with a shaved head was crying. Peridot suspected it was due to teasing about him having lice.
  3. Two girls were snarking at each other due to allegations that one had been spreading rumours about the other.



The slap was particularly problematic; the young girl’s mother had been furious and was apparently waiting outside the rec centre in her car to confront the offending boy.

There were whispers that she might accost the kid and his two brothers. As such, the after-school staff were not comfortable letting them walk home.

They decided to call non-emergency police to escort them home.

Peridot was tasked with keeping an eye on them while they waited for the police officer to show up.

Not used to interacting with children, Peridot felt profoundly awkward.

“Um. Hi. I’m Peridot. What are your names?”

“I’m James” the oldest one, the one who had slapped the girl replied. He looked fairly contrite.

“I’m Mike” the middle brother replied. He looked bored.

“And I’m Ethan!” the youngest brother replied, enthused. He was preoccupied by the spinning capabilities of the chair he was currently sitting in.

“So… you guys planning anything for the weekend?” Peridot asked, hoping this was a topic the kids would want to talk about.

“Naw, not much. Just gonna play videogames and watch T.V.” Mike replied, not looking up from watching his brother spin around on his chair.

“Oh, I’ve been playing Ocarina of Time on the 3DS, what do you guys play?” Peridot asked, glad they could talk about something she knew about.

“Mostly just Black Ops, FIFA, that kind of thing” James piped in.

Unfortunately, Peridot played neither sports games nor first person shooters.

An awkward silence filled the room.

“Ugh, so dizzy” Ethan groaned.

“That’s what happens when you spin around in your chair like an idiot” Mike commented, clearly holding in laughter.

“I’m not an idiot! You’re an idiot!”

“Ooooh, great comeback Ethan. I’m really feeling the burn over here”

“Guys, stop it. This isn’t the place” Peridot interjected, as she felt the beginnings of a headache. This is why she never interacted with children.

“Whatever…”

_Jeez, how long are the police going to take?_

Ethan began to push his chair around the room wildly.

“Ethan! Chairs are for sitting in!” Peridot did her best to sound authoritative. It mostly came out shrill.

Fortunately, Ethan did stop and did as he was told. Minutes ticked by.

“This is soooo boring” Mike complained.

“Uhh, I guess we could play hangman?” Peridot suggested, glad she had brought a notebook with her.

“Yeah! That sounds great! We can make the category videogames!” James replied, with a surprising amount of enthusiasm.

It was at that moment that the police officers finally showed up.

Steven followed them into the room, closing the door behind him. He waved to Peridot, then seemed to remember that they were in a serious situation.

The officers took out their notebooks.

“Hello, I’m Officer Reynolds, and this is Officer Stewart. To start, what are all of your names and dates of birth?”

Once the children had replayed the information, the officer began:

“Now, which of you hit that girl?”

James raised his hand timidly.

“You ever been to jail, son?”

The officer gave James an intimidating stare.

James shook his head slowly.

 “Now that you’re 12, you can be charged and sent to jail, you understand me? Now, we don’t put our hands on girls, we don’t put our hands on anybody, understand?”

James nodded, a look of terror crossing his face.

“Looks like our work is done here”

“Wait, weren’t you going to walk these boys home?” Steven asked, looking confused.

“Do you boys have a parent at home?” Officer Reynolds asked the kids.

They shook their heads.

“Well, we’re not in the business of babysitting”

With that, the police officers left.

“…well, since I’m off now, I guess I’ll walk you guys home”, Steven offered. He flashed the brothers a winning smile.

“You guys ready to roll?”

The boys all but jumped up, apparently eager to leave.

“Alrighty then, LET’S ROLL!”

Peridot couldn’t help but admire Steven’s enthusiasm.

For a moment, Peridot appreciated the silence of the now-empty room. She sighed and stood up.

_Time to go back to receptioning, joy of joys._

Once Peridot had returned to the front desk, she was quickly approached by Rose Quartz.

“Thanks so much for your help, Peridot! That was a real doozy of a situation!” Rose said, running her hands through her hair.

“It was no problem, really” Peridot replied in a monotone.

“That’s great!  We’re running a winter camp in a couple weeks. Would you be interested in working? You have standard first aid, right?”

“Yeah, sure, I guess” Peridot agreed, not minding an opportunity to make a bit of extra cash for the holidays.

“Excellent! I’ll send you the schedule so you can help prepare”

It wasn’t until Rose had walked away that it dawned on Peridot.

_Wait prepare? Prepare what? What have I gotten myself into?_

“Hey Peri, what’s shaking?” Amethyst’s voice brought Peridot out of her minor panic.

“I think I might’ve just accidentally agreed to help with winter camp”

“How did you do that? Did you trip? Didn’t take you as one to do drugs at work” Amethyst snickered at her own joke.

“I assure you, narcotics had nothing to do with it”

“Rose just talked you into it then? You could just tell her you don’t want to do it. I’m sure she’d be cool about it.”

Amethyst had a good point, but Peridot wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. Or admit that she had made a mistake.

Amethyst took stock of Peridot’s expression.

“Not gonna back down, are ya? I can get behind that” Amethyst paused and took a look down the hallway, at the gaggle of children that had already assembled outside the computer room.

“Well, I better go attend to them before they burn down the facility. See you in the aftermath, Peri!”

“…peace…but not actually”, Peridot muttered to herself, smirking at her own reference.

Amethyst had apparently heard her. She broke into a wide grin.

Suddenly, despite the whole mess with the police, this was a good day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, you're a champ.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!
> 
> For the record, I have almost no idea where I'm going with this. The title could just as easily be referring to my lack of direction as Peridot's life (why not both?).


End file.
